[DR1] Time for US$ checking accounts

[NewsWhore]

Economist Victor Canto proposes that the Monetary Board allow foreign currency checking accounts in the country. At present, only savings accounts are allowed in foreign currency. Canto says this would stimulate the economy and encourage foreign investment. He called this the poor man's dollarization, as it does not require the government to buy out the pesos at a high cost as some other Latin American countries have had to undertake. In an interview with the Listin Diario, he said that the only reason people use pesos is because the government obliges them to do so to pay their taxes in pesos, for example. Canto said that the Dominican economy is dollarized in the spending side, not so much as in the income side. In his opinion, the control mechanisms for dollars now in effect by the Central Bank will disappear and there will be free flow of capitals with the opening of trade. The plan is that companies that deal in pesos will pay in pesos, and those that trade in dollars will pay in dollars.

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